After over a month of private grieving over the tragic loss of her baby boy Harrison to stillbirth on 7 August, Home & Away star Ada Nicodemou has shared this heartbreaking post on Instagram:

Her words cut to the heart of the loss and grief that only a mother who has lost her child would know. While we don’t have any words to make it better, we hope that the overwhelming response of comments and well-wishes the star has received on social media will at least let her know that she is not quite so alone in her sadness.

Every now and then, you get a reminder that celebrities are just humans, too. Today, a reminder came in the most brutal of ways, when we heard that Home & Away star Ada Nicodemou and husband Chrys Xipolitas lost their baby boy, Harrison, to stillbirth.

Ada and Chrys, already parents to toddler Johnas, released the following statement via the Home & Away Facebook page:

“It is with great sadness that we need to share some news with you.
Our baby boy Harrison was delivered stillborn on Thursday 7 August 2014.

We appreciate your love and support as we mourn the loss of our precious son.

We understand we have lived some of our lives in the public eye.
But we respectfully ask for privacy at this difficult and extremely painful time so we can grieve and heal.

With love Ada, Chrys & Johnas”

In the lead-up to her due date, Ada was over the moon, having struggled to conceive Johnas for two years.

“You do pinch yourself, and when you have those moments when you’re tired and not feeling so great and you’re complaining about it, you think, ‘Hang on a second, this is actually a blessing’ she told Digital Spy.

“You don’t want to get too attached in the first 12 weeks, but seeing the baby at our scan was exciting. The more it’s sinking in, the more excited I am getting.”

It’s hard to imagine what Ada and her family must be going through right now – and indeed, only those who have been through the same tragedy ever could. To be in those final days of pregnancy, friends and family (and in Ada’s case, fans) waiting eagerly for news of a healthy birth, only to have your joy ripped from you in the cruellest possible way – it must be as devastating as it is paralysing. It’s something that every mother dreads, which was evident in the immediate and overwhelming outpouring of support on social media: